


this is full blown love

by brionyjae



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Fluff, M/M, like a lot of fluff, which is weird for me lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brionyjae/pseuds/brionyjae
Summary: How to run a quaint bookshop with hardly any customers, and woo someone with book quotes, a novel by Barry Allen.Or: How to discover an old love for reading, and a new love for someone you haven't actually met yet, a novel by Cisco Ramon.
The Flashvibe Bookshop AU that nobody asked for! Includes many many book quotes, cute/awkward boys, despairing best friends, and fluff. A lot of fluff. *grin*
Written for mockingbirdie for Flashvibe Secret Santa 2016 :)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TwirlsWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwirlsWrites/gifts).



> A belated Merry Christmas, [mockingbirdie](https://mockingbirdie.tumblr.com)! I really enjoyed being your Flashvibe Secret Santa this year :) Since you said you liked cute fluffy fics, especially AUs, and especially "meet-cute" fics... hopefully this fits pretty well! It's funny because this was actually a challenge for me, since I seem to write a lot of angst and hurt/comfort for some reason... it was fun to just write happy fluff for once :D
> 
> BIG shout out and thank you to [eucatastrophe__x](http://archiveofourown.org/users/eucatastrophe__x/pseuds/eucatastrophe__x), who kindly gave me the original idea prompt, and much encouragement during the writing process ;)
> 
> Title is taken from "Full Blown Love" by Broods (such a good song!!)

* * *

Day One: Friday

* * *

Ugh. Cisco truly loathed having to catch the bus to class. It was way too freaking early in the morning to deal with the roar and chaos of traffic - not to mention the chattering swarm of fellow commuters, who all seemed to be vastly more awake than Cisco. Basically, it was Cisco's daily visit to hell.

At least it was Friday. Thank god. Maybe he should treat himself to a coffee or something. He totally felt like he deserved one. It had been a _long_ week. Two in-class tests, each worth a scarily large chunk of his overall grade, an endless pile of readings to catch up on...

...but if he stopped for coffee, he'd probably be late to his physics tutorial. Which meant the guaranteed embarrassment of interrupting the tutor, having everyone stare at him, and desperately trying to find an empty seat. All of which Cisco's overwrought nerves really wanted to avoid whenever possible.

So, no coffee then.

Cisco sighed, and rested his head against the bus window. Shops and buildings blurred his vision as the bus sped past them. He wasn't truly looking at any of it - but just as the bus began slowing down to pull into his stop, one small detail sliced through his consciousness.

The words "The Princess Bride."

Cisco's heart skipped a beat. The Princess Bride was his all-time favourite book, and his all-time favourite movie. He had A Lot Of Feelings about The Princess Bride. And the most painful thing was that hardly anyone he knew had ever heard of it.

Randomly seeing _anything_ related to The Princess Bride was unheard of.

The bus screeched to a halt, but Cisco could barely hear it over the pounding in his ears. He found himself staring out of the bus window, straight at a little, unassuming blackboard sign that was propped up on the sidewalk. It was covered in slightly scrawled handwriting, too small to read from the bus, except for the bolder attribution at the bottom.

**The Princess Bride.**

The bus engine revved suddenly beneath him, and Cisco leapt out of his seat in a panic. Evidently, the bus driver had been ready to leave the stop, and he grumbled indistinctly at Cisco as he re-opened the bus doors. Cisco spilled out onto the sidewalk, and took a shaky breath to try and regain some sense of calm. He clutched his satchel closer to his side.

There was still a few minutes until he had to be in class. He totally had time for this. Right?

Cisco squeezed his way across the steady flow of commuters, until he was standing right in front of the blackboard sign. Now he was close enough to appreciate the full effect of the handwritten words.

> _"This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it."_  
>  **\- The Princess Bride, William Goldman.**

Holy Professor Dumbledore. It was a quote. A quote from his favourite book in all existence. And somebody else had written it on this blackboard, which meant that somebody else had actually _read_ The Princess Bride, which meant that Cisco was about to have a heart attack, or cry, possibly.

Cisco tucked his hair behind his ears, and glanced up at the shop. It was a bookshop, which he should have guessed, with another sign dangling above the entrance: _Barry's Books._ There was an inviting bay window filled with countless stacks of books, covered with the morning sunlight that was streaming in. Still breathing too quickly, Cisco looked down at the blackboard again, etching the words into his mind.

This was... the most alive he'd felt, in a long while. God, all those memories of reading that book, over and over - during his summer breaks, curled up in bed in winter - and now, he couldn't remember the last time he'd read anything that wasn't course related.

It was like a part of himself had been locked away, forgotten about.

This blackboard was - making Cisco want to remember.

Logically, he knew that he should get going to class. His college was still a minute's walk down the street, and his physics tutor really did hate him. Even if he left now, he was _going_ to be late. But something blocked out that anxiety, just for a moment, and he let himself read the quote from The Princess Bride one more time. Cisco took a slow step backwards, trying to convince himself to leave - but then, almost as an afterthought, looked back up at the bookshop's window.

Behind the piles of books on display, Cisco spotted someone - or, to be more accurate, some kind of - like, woodland sprite, or something. Seriously, this guy was tall, with long skinny limbs, and the most adorable knitted sweater. He seemed to be arranging a centre display of books. Since he was the only person inside the bookshop, it seemed likely that he was the 'Barry' of _Barry's Books_. The one who had liked The Princess Bride enough to write a quote on his shop's blackboard.

Cisco watched him for a moment longer, before ripping himself away from the bookshop. He merged into the crowd more easily than he would have expected, and allowed the movement to herd him down the road, towards his physics tutorial.

The only hint that this morning was not an ordinary morning was the smile adorning Cisco's face.

* * *

It was Friday, which didn't mean much to Barry, except the prospect of more leisurely opening hours on the weekends. Luckily, Barry loved his bookshop with all of his being, so the lack of weekend only occasionally bothered him. So far that morning, he'd been open for around half an hour, and not seen a single customer. Time to adjust that centre display with a couple of new books that had arrived with the morning freight.

Barry was wondering whether to move Stephen King's latest novel to a different display when he noticed that there was someone standing outside his shop. Just - standing there. Barry shaded his eyes from the sun, which focused his vision on the figure. Someone wearing a Harry Potter t-shirt, and a satchel slung over his shoulder, was standing outside his shop, reading - reading _his_ blackboard sign.

Barry's mouth fell open of its own accord. _Nobody_ ever stopped to read his sign. He'd grown used to the constant shuffle of people past his shop, with customers darting through the door every now and then - but never actually stopping on the sidewalk just to _read his sign_. It was only his romantic notions about what a bookshop Should Be that kept him writing a fresh one every morning.

The man pushed his tumbling hair behind his ears, and suddenly looked up at Barry's shop. Now that he could see his face, Barry had a hard time keeping his breathing steady. He was - well, gorgeous, it had to be said, but there was something in his expression that particularly captured Barry's attention; he looked wistful, and sad, but then - the tiniest smile curved his lips, and Barry swallowed hard.

A loud thump made him jump, and he realised that he'd dropped the handful of books he'd been holding. Fiercely grateful that there was no one around to witness his flaming blush, Barry bent down to pick up the books, and hurriedly added them to the display he'd been working on. By the time Barry had managed to fit them into a gap between Jodi Picoult and Lee Child, he glanced back out the window - and the man was gone.

Barry rushed over to the bay window, and peered down the street. He could just make out his hair amongst the crowd. Maybe he was heading to the college down the street, if the satchel was anything to guess by. Barry swallowed against the lump in his throat, and turned away from the window. This was utterly ridiculous, but... he'd just really wanted him to come into his shop.

The bell above his shop door tinkled, and he spun around eagerly. Oh. It was Iris, his best friend, who also happened to run the coffee shop next door. She was probably coming to pick up the newspaper - she liked to have one at the counter every day, for her customers to flip through. Barry bit his lip, and pulled a smile onto his face.

"Expecting someone else?" Iris asked, raising an eyebrow shrewdly. His smile turned more genuine, and Barry walked over to Iris to give her a hug.

"What? No, why would I - that's just. I mean."

Iris poked him in the arm, and rolled her eyes affectionately at him.

"Riiight."

Barry took a deep breath.

"Okay, look. It's just, someone read my sign."

* * *

Day Four: Monday

* * *

"You're in an unusually good mood this morning," Caitlin commented idly, sliding a Petri dish over to Cisco. "Double shot of espresso?"

Cisco snorted, even while his stomach flipped in response. They were halfway through the mandatory morning biochemistry class that he shared with his best friend, Caitlin Snow.

"Pffft. A good mood? I'm not in a good mood. I'm - in a normal mood."

"You've been humming. To the theme tune of Harry Potter, I might add," Caitlin said. She spared him a knowing glance, before lowered her eye to the microscope, to continue observing - well, whatever microorganisms they were supposed to be observing.

"Huh - that's, that's weird, I didn't even notice."

Cisco cleared his throat carefully, and concentrated a tad too hard on the Petri dish she'd handed him.

"Cisco. Please. I know when you're not telling me something."

He bit his lip, his gaze unfocused on the desk in front of him.

"Come on, spill!"

"...this is going to sound really stupid," Cisco sighed. "But, there's this bookshop."

Caitlin slowly looked up from the microscope, and frowned at him in confusion.

"It's just down the street, actually," Cisco continued. "Right outside my bus stop. And on Friday, I noticed that there was this blackboard outside, with a quote from The Princess Bride on it." Caitlin knew about his obsession with The Princess Bride - he'd convinced her to watch the movie with him twice so far. "And then today, there was a Harry Potter quote. And - I don't know," Cisco shrugged helplessly. "It just made me happy. That's all."

"...huh," Caitlin said in response. She was still frowning, but it was more thoughtful now. "Okay."

Cisco resisted the urge to squirm in his seat, and determinedly did not look over at her. Clearly Caitlin suspected that something was up with him, and he doubted she was going to drop the matter so easily. So what, if he'd deliberately left out the beautiful boy he'd spotted through the bookshop's window again this morning? He'd been on the phone, and his hair had been sticking up in random tufts. While Cisco had watched from the sidewalk, he had run his hands through it and made it even more messy. Um, anyway. So what, if Cisco didn't mention the odd coincidence of having worn a Harry Potter t-shirt on Friday, and then this morning, reading the truly epic quote of:

> _"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"_  
>  **\- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling.**

None of that stuff was relevant to Caitlin's question. Right?

* * *

Day Five: Tuesday

* * *

Barry was sweating. In his defence, all the weather stations had predicted that today was going to be the hottest day of spring so far. Somehow, he didn't think that had anything to do with his current body temperature. It was 8:56am, and the bus that stopped outside Barry's bookshop was due at any moment.

Yesterday, he may or may not have been glancing out the window every few seconds, around the same time he'd seen the man reading his blackboard sign on Friday - and, sure enough, Barry had managed to spot his distinctive figure getting off the bus. And then - he'd actually started walking over to his bookshop!

That was when the phone had rung. Because _of course_ it had.

Barry had listened to an overly detailed description of a particular children's picture book the customer was searching for, and had stared absently at the man's captive eyes which were once again scanning his blackboard sign. He'd been wearing a Sherlock Holmes t-shirt. Belatedly, Barry had realised that the customer on the phone had asked him a question, and he'd turned away, running his hand through his hair as he asked if they could 'repeat that, please'.

God, he was so utterly screwed.

And yet.

Today, Barry was determined that nothing would get in the way of him and his mysterious sign-reader. Last night, he'd frantically flipped through all of the Sherlock Holmes stock he carried, and found a surprisingly relevant quote for his blackboard.

> _"Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."_  
>  **\- The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle.**

Like. This whole situation was feeling pretty strange to Barry, but in the best possible way.

At 8:57am, the bell above the door chimed, and Barry almost had a heart attack. It was Iris, of course.

"Hey sweetie..." Iris began, but trailed off as Barry flapped a hand at her. "Uh... what's going on?"

"Shush! Just - come over here, he'll be here any minute!"

A few more hand-flaps made Iris reluctantly walk over to Barry. Both of her eyebrows were raised, but then an amused smile lit up her face.

"Wait, are you waiting for that guy who was reading your sign the other day?"

"Yes," Barry hissed, feeling his cheeks warm up. "I know, I know, I'm an idiot -"

"A hopelessly romantic idiot," chuckled Iris, but she joined Barry in looking out the window. Barry's heart was hammering; it was 8:58am now, and -

\- the bus suddenly pulled in.

"Oh my god, what am I thinking?" Barry muttered, watching person after person exit the bus, but then, there he was, one hand on his satchel strap, his head bent down to watch where he was stepping, and - _yes_ , he was making his way through the lines of people streaming in both directions, and way too soon, he was standing outside Barry's bookshop, reading his blackboard sign.

Iris whistled.

"He's hot!"

"Shut up," Barry whispered back, somewhat hysterically. A tiny smile was tugging at the man's lips, and Barry's brain helpfully wondered what it would be like to kiss that smile.

It was at that moment that he looked up from the blackboard sign, through the window, and locked eyes with Barry.

Holy shit. What was air? They stared, and stared, at each other. It wasn't like accidentally catching a stranger's gaze, or awkwardly getting caught watching someone. It was like - something indefinable was passing between them, like they already knew each other, like they were thinking the exact same thing -

Barry's feet were rooted to the carpet, which is why he didn't move when the man turned, and was absorbed by the crowd on the sidewalk. For a second, Barry just stood there, unsure what to think, how to feel, but then Iris started punching his arm excitedly, and he very quickly decided that he was feeling _pain_.

"Ow!" he complained, scuttling a few steps away from her and scrubbing his arm with his other hand. "What??"

"Why didn't you go out there and say hi?!" Iris gestured out at the street.

"Um," Barry said smoothly.

"Ugh, _boys_." Iris rolled her eyes.

Yep, that pretty much summed it up.

* * *

Okay, so. Cisco was incredibly conflicted. Matching the bookshop's blackboard quote to his previous t-shirt _once_ was a coincidence. But _twice_? In a row? That was... less of a coincidence. But still possible. Right?

But. That staring contest. _That_ had not been an ordinary occurrence. Even if Cisco disregarded the uncanny accuracy of the blackboard sign - staring into each other eyes had been so... intense, and so much more than merely making eye contact with a random person.

What the actual fuck was he supposed to think?

Cisco was still feeling off-balance in his final class of the day, thermal physics, which happened to be mandatory for Caitlin's degree. Normally, Cisco appreciated having someone to copy notes from and work on assignments with - but today, her probing glances just encouraged his skittering nerves.

Since they were in a lecture, Caitlin didn't get much opportunity to interrogate Cisco, but as soon as the professor dismissed them for the day, she rounded on him.

"Is this about the bookshop again?" she asked, waving her hand up and down Cisco as if he were displaying the symptoms of some disease. He winced.

"... sort of?"

Caitlin sighed.

"Let's walk down there together." She shook her head with a touch of exasperation, but had a gentler smile on her face.

The minute's walk felt like an age, and something in Cisco's stomach was, like, practicing for the acrobatic circus or something. By the time they reached _Barry's Books_ , Cisco was ready to breathe into a paper bag.

"Interesting," Caitlin said finally, after examining the blackboard sign for a long moment. "Weren't you wearing a Sherlock Holmes t-shirt yesterday?"

"Uh. Yes?" Cisco supplied hoarsely.

"Hmmm. Interesting."

"You said that already," Cisco pointed out. Caitlin didn't reply, as she was peering through the bookshop window. Cisco automatically did the same.

Cisco was almost surprised to actually see a few customers milling around inside, browsing shelves, flicking through pages. Which sounded awful, but, well. He'd only ever seen one other person inside, which had been this morning - although, he'd been a bit preoccupied with looking at, ahem, someone else, to really notice. 'Barry' - Cisco was yet to find out if this was really his name, but to be honest, he kinda _looked_ like a Barry? - was serving one of those customers at the counter, and hadn't noticed Cisco or Caitlin yet.

"Okay, so... he's taking inspiration from your t-shirts?" Caitlin said, a doubtful edge to her voice. "Maybe he does that all the time with various people passing by."

"Um." Cisco coughed. "There's also the small matter of him seeing me read his sign this morning, and we may have stared at each other through the window for, like, a creepily long time..."

Caitlin's eyes widened, and she thwacked a hand across Cisco's shoulder.

"You didn't think to mention that earlier?!"

"...what is my life even," Cisco moaned, absently rubbing his shoulder where Caitlin had hit him.

"Okay. It's okay, we can work this out," Caitlin said decisively, straightening up to her full height. That, and the heels she was wearing, made her seem like quite a formidable force. "We're scientists. What do scientists do?"

An awkward pause made it clear that it was not, in fact, a rhetorical question, and Cisco stuttered.

"We, uh, science the shit out of stuff?"

"We hypothesise! We test theories! We calculate results, and we formulate conclusions based on all of our collected information." Cisco was still blinking at her, so she added, "We're going to science the shit out of this."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Cisco raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in an attempt to look superior, but he suspected his anxiety was making him look like a hedgehog curling in on itself.

"You're going to find every book-related t-shirt that you own," Caitlin explained, eyes shining. "And you're going to wear them, one after the other, and if this blackboard sign matches up with each one, then we'll know something's up."

Huh. Why hadn't Cisco thought of that? Almost his entire wardrobe was a shrine to nerdy references, many of them pertaining to books.

"Okay," he conceded. "And after that?"

"Um, well... we can't pre-plan that far ahead," Caitlin recovered hastily, glaring when Cisco failed to smother an amused snort.

Cisco looked back through the bookshop window, his gaze finding the subject of his thoughts immediately. Surely this whole thing was going to end up being a couple of coincidences. He wasn't _that_ important - who was to say that the man in the bookshop wasn't just picking quotes at random - that he hadn't even paid any attention to Cisco whatsoever.

"The game is afoot," Cisco muttered under his breath.

* * *

Day Six: Wednesday

* * *

Something was... different, this morning. Barry wasn't sure exactly _what_ was different, but. Something definitely was.

Yesterday, after their weird 'moment' through the window, Barry had half expected never to see his mysterious sign-reader again. Still, Barry had noted the t-shirt he'd been wearing - a Lord of the Rings design - and started brainstorming potential quotes he could use.

And then, at the end of the day, Barry had been serving his last few customers at the counter - he'd been kind of daydreaming a bit, waiting for an EFTPOS transaction to go through his ancient computer terminal - and he'd glanced towards the windows, and -

\- there he was.

His gorgeous, fascinating sign-reader.

This time, he hadn't been alone. A tall girl stood next to him, with wavy hair and bright red lipstick. They'd appeared to be having an... absorbing conversation.

Barry had swallowed thickly, pasting on a smile as he turned back to his customer. She wasn't necessarily his girlfriend. Male-female friendships totally existed! Look at him and Iris. Best friends since they were kids. It happened!

When Barry had next looked out the window, they were both gone.

So now it was Wednesday morning, and Barry had found a quote from the Lord of the Rings to write on his blackboard, and he was waiting for that bus to arrive, just hoping that - well, that this was still a thing. That the man would still walk over to read his sign. Speaking of his sign, Barry was freaking out slightly about what he'd written today. He didn't want to be completely obvious, or anything...

> _"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us."_  
>  **\- The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien.**

...yeah, so Barry was basically begging the mystery man to decide to spend his time in his bookshop. (That absolutely _wasn't_ a metaphor for anything.)

Barry was nervously restacking a pile of David Walliams' box-sets when the bus screeched to a halt on the street. The man got off the bus (like normal). Rain had been falling off and on for the past hour, which accounted for the hooded jacket he was wearing. However, the front was unzipped, and Barry's heart gave an extra hard thump when he saw yet another book-related t-shirt. This one was more obscure, but Barry could tell that it referred to The Martian (an epic book and movie, in Barry's opinion).

But, like. It was actually pretty cold and wet out there. Not that Barry was complaining, but - why hadn't he just zipped his jacket up? It was like... he _wanted_ Barry to see it.

As the man made his way over to the bookshop (like normal), Barry realised that there _was_ something different. Specifically, his facial expression. Normally, his face was pretty blank - as if he was, like, resigned to some kind of horrible fate - until, of course, he reached Barry's blackboard sign, where tiny hints of emotion broke free. Normally, he looked - well, a little depressed, to be honest.

Today though, there was clear determination in his eyes, and his stride was purposeful. He arrived in front of Barry's blackboard sign, read the quote (like normal), and then - he frowned.

Barry found himself unwillingly mirroring the expression. What was wrong? Did he - not like the quote, or something? He _had_ been wearing a Lord of the Rings t-shirt yesterday, right? Although... his frown wasn't one of disapproval, it was more thoughtful... _oh god._ Had Barry been too obvious after all? Great, now he was sweating again. Barry clutched one of the box-sets to his chest, not sure whether he was hoping that the man would look up and see him, or that he would just leave without doing anything.

When he abruptly turned and left, Barry refused to acknowledge the disappointment settling in his stomach. He was just another, normal customer. Even though he hadn't ever set foot inside Barry's bookshop.

This was all totally normal.

* * *

Day Seven: Thursday

* * *

> _"I guess you could call it a 'failure', but I prefer the term 'learning experience'."_  
>  **\- The Martian, Andy Weir.**

* * *

Day Eight: Friday

* * *

> _"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream, and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."_  
>  **\- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams.**

* * *

Day Nine: Saturday

* * *

It was way, _way_ too fucking early in the morning - it was the weekend, and Cisco was catching his usual morning bus to town. Like the miserable human being that he was.

Unfortunately, Cisco couldn't even say this bus trip was because of his dedication to his bookshop sign experiment. No, this was because he was studying science, which he obviously enjoyed, but which also meant that sometimes, he had to run _actual_ experiments that needed assessing every day. Hence the weekend visit.

God, sometimes he hated his life.

The bus' brakes jerked, and Cisco's eyes focused on the familiar sight of the bookshop. Wait. There was something missing.

Cisco hurried off the bus, but didn't make his way over to the bookshop. He remained where he was, just staring. The street was deserted, except for a few people resembling zombies, like himself, so his view was unimpeded.

The blackboard sign wasn't there.

Cisco emphatically did _not_ panic. He flicked his eyes to the bookshop's door, and let out a deep breath.

Oh. The bookshop wasn't open yet. Duh.

As if connected to his very thoughts, the door of the _Barry's Books_ suddenly opened, and Cisco startled. It was him, his bookshop boy, and he was carrying... the blackboard sign. He looked up, probably to watch where he was going, but he spotted Cisco instead. A huge grin spread over his face, and he promptly dropped one end of the blackboard sign. And then tripped over it.

Cisco bit his cheek to hide his smile, determinedly ignoring the flutter in his chest. He watched as the other man's face flushed bright red, and he finally got the blackboard standing upright. Then he looked back up at Cisco, grin firmly in place despite his blush, and they gazed at each other for a few more seconds.

Oh. _Oh._ This was it, right? This was The Moment, to go over there, and say hi.

Cisco was so not prepared for this.

Just as Cisco took his first step across the sidewalk, a harassed-looking woman rushed up to the man, babbling about an urgent gift that she needed to buy right that minute. He kept his eyes on Cisco for one last moment, before he turned and led the woman into his shop.

Cisco let out another long breath, feeling a bit like a deflating balloon. Guess it wasn't meant to be, or whatever.

Still, out of habit, Cisco walked over to read the blackboard sign. Sure enough, the quote matched up to the t-shirt that he'd worn yesterday:

> _"One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again."_  
>  **\- The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis.**

The man hadn't missed a day yet, and frankly, Cisco wasn't expecting him to. Even Caitlin would have trouble calling this string of matching quotes a coincidence.

So. They'd arrived at the part of the plan where there _was_ no plan. Great.

Before heading to the college to check on his more scientific experiment, Cisco detoured into the coffee shop next door to _Barry's Books,_ feeling like he thoroughly deserved one. There was only one barista behind the counter, so Cisco approached her.

"Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed, beaming at him. Cisco squinted at her name badge. 'Iris'.

"Uh... have we met?" he asked uncertainly.

"No," Iris confirmed. Her smile definitely gave the impression that Cisco was missing a vital piece of information.

"So, um, how..."

"I've just seen you outside my friend's bookshop, that's all."

Ugh. Was he that obvious?

"What can I get you?" Iris asked, as Cisco was beginning to feel hot around the collar.

"Just, uh... a double shot latte with extra caramel syrup."

"And a name for that?"

Cisco looked pointedly around the empty shop.

"I'm your only customer..."

Iris raised an eyebrow.

"Your name?"

Cisco sighed.

"Cisco."

"Cisco... huh..." Iris murmured as she scribbled his name on the coffee cup. "That's a nice name." Cisco nodded wordlessly, half-wishing his body wasn't so reliant on caffeine. There was silence, save for the whirring of the coffee machine, and then -

"Um, speaking of names," Cisco blurted out. "You mentioned your friend worked in the bookshop next door... his name, um, isn't 'Barry', is it?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Iris answered dryly, but with a warm smile. Her knowing eyes followed Cisco as he paced beside the counter. He had a name now. Barry. _Barry_. Just as Cisco had suspected, it suited him perfectly. Not that Cisco had thought about it, like, _at all._

"Here's your coffee," said Iris, interrupting Cisco's scattered thoughts. "Hopefully I'll be seeing some more of you in the future?"

"Ha. Depends how good this latte is," Cisco joked weakly. Iris - honest to god - smirked, and shook her head mutely. Cisco managed a sort of smile, and turned to leave, but swore that he heard a muttered " _Boys!_ " before he made it to the door.

* * *

"I have gathered some Very Important Intel for you," Iris said in lieu of a greeting that afternoon, as she swept into the bookshop. Barry blinked, and paused in the act of rearranging the cookbook section.

"Intel? Iris. We're not in some science fiction TV show."

If anything, Iris' eyes gleamed even more.

"I know your mysterious sign-reader's name."

Barry's mouth fell open, and he let a stack of Jamie Oliver tumble backwards.

"What? How? When? Iris... what is it?"

Iris walked over to Barry, and knelt down on the ground beside him. Thankfully, it was a slow afternoon, and the only customer seemed to have set up camp in the young adult section.

"He came to get coffee this morning. His name is Cisco."

_Cisco_. Barry barely resisted letting out a pent up sigh. The name sounded so fitting, as if Barry had known it all along.

"He asked what your name was too, you know," Iris said, and Barry turned his head to look at her so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash.

"Are you... serious?"

"Would I joke about this?" Iris looked distinctly unimpressed. Then her expression cleared, and she was grinning again. "I feel like a legit matchmaker right now!"

"What? No, that's - no, you are not _matchmaking_ us! There's nothing _to_ matchmake!"

"He's so lovely," Iris continued as if Barry hadn't spoken. "Kinda awkward, like you, but he makes it look cute."

"Hey! I can be cute-awkward." Barry allowed himself to pout.

"Of course you can, Barry."

Barry let out a groan, and thumped his forehead against the nearest bookshelf.

"I think you'd be perfect for each other." Iris paused for a moment. "You know, if you ever actually _spoke_ to each other."

"These... things take time," Barry mumbled into the books squishing his face. He could practically hear Iris' resulting eye-roll.

"Well, I guess you're the expert on wooing people with book quotes."

* * *

Day Eleven: Monday

* * *

> _"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."_  
>  **\- Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë.**

* * *

Day Twelve: Tuesday

* * *

> _"You are in every line I have ever read."_  
>  **\- Great Expectations, Charles Dickens.**

* * *

Day Thirteen: Wednesday

* * *

Cisco might have been imagining it, but... the past few quotes had been getting more and more pointed, with more and more meaning. Or maybe Cisco was just seeing what he wanted to see. Or reading into it too deeply. _Or_ maybe his anxiety was just wreaking havoc in his brain.

Anxiety or not, the quote on the blackboard sign this morning made Cisco suck in a harsh breath as he walked up to the bookshop.

> _"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."_  
>  **\- To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee.**

It was as if Barry - _Barry_ \- was reading his mind. Before this whole blackboard sign debacle started, Cisco hadn't given reading for pleasure a spare thought. Not since he'd arrived at college, anyway. And it wasn't until that very first quote from The Princess Bride that he'd realised how much he missed it. On Sunday evening, he'd actually dug through his tiny closet in his dorm room, where he finally uncovered his old, battered copy of the book. He'd begun reading it that night, and was now almost halfway through it.

And he was... _happy_.

Cisco squinted through the bookshop window, and wasn't even surprised to see Barry standing behind the counter, blatantly watching Cisco read his sign. As they made eye contact, Barry turned a light shade of pink, but he didn't look away. Feeling emboldened by -  well, who knew what by, maybe it was just his bright mood that lent him the courage - Cisco raised a hand and gave Barry a small wave. A smile lit up Barry's face, and he waved back immediately. Cisco didn't notice that he was smiling too until a muscle started hurting in his cheek.

Dude, he must really be out of practice.

For the first time, Cisco found his eyes drifting over to the main door to the bookshop. It would be so easy - and so difficult at the same time - to just walk over there and go inside. But - no. Not yet.

And besides, he was going to be late for class. Again.

* * *

Day Fourteen: Thursday

* * *

When Barry had seen the Game of Thrones t-shirt Cisco had worn yesterday, the opportunity was too fortuitous to pass up. Even if every human survival instinct he had was screaming that he was being too over-the-top, too cheesy - just, too _much_ \- Barry _had_ to use this quote. He had to do _something_. Something big, and dramatic.

> _"The things I do for love."_  
>  **\- A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin.**

Because that was literally what Barry was doing. Compulsively finding the perfect quote to match Cisco's t-shirts - who he still hadn't even met - all for the hopeless chance of romance.

Well, being an optimist was in Barry's DNA.

At 8:57am, Barry positioned himself with a full view of the window, so he could be sure he wouldn't miss Cisco's bus pulling in. No matter how many times he glanced at his watch, the next minute dragged by. The bus eventually whooshed into its stop, and Barry continued waiting, and watching.

And... yep, Cisco was there, descending the bus' steps. But - hang on. Barry's heart began to beat faster, and his eyes widened involuntarily.

Cisco was wearing a jacket, like the other day - but, _unlike_ the other day, it was zipped up.

He... wasn't wearing a book-related t-shirt?

Barry distantly realised that his breathing was shaky. It wasn't as if they had an agreement that Cisco would wear a different t-shirt every day, and Barry would take a quote from them. But, like. They kinda _did_.

Had Cisco changed his mind? Maybe he'd had enough. God, this was all so stupid - who even did things like this?

Maybe he wasn't going to read today's blackboard sign.

Barry reached out and placed one hand on a mammoth stack of Peter Hamilton books, in order to stop himself running out into the street and confronting Cisco. He couldn't just leave his bookshop unmanned... which was totally the only reason for not going out there.

But - despite his zipped jacket, Cisco _was_ making his way over to the bookshop, and he was reading the little blackboard sign. Barry just stared, unable to do anything else. Cisco raised his head, and Barry was unprepared to meet his piercing gaze. His expression was unreadable, his eyes dark brown - or was that just the cloudy glare from the sky?

Then Cisco did something unexpected.

He started deliberately and slowly unzipping his jacket, all while maintaining eye contact with Barry.

Jesus _fucking_ Christ.

Barry swallowed, feeling the familiar blush creep over his ears. For once in his life, Barry wished that his imagination _wasn't_ so thoroughly vivid and active. Cisco finished with the jacket's zip, and shook it open to reveal -

\- a Princess Bride t-shirt.

Barry's mind cleared, and he knew what he had to do.

* * *

Day Fifteen: Friday

* * *

This was it. This was The Day.

Cisco had officially run out of book-related t-shirts yesterday. He'd purposely saved The Princess Bride t-shirt until last, because it felt kind of special. It was basically the catalyst for this whole thing - whatever 'this' was. He felt strange today, just wearing an average, red button shirt with tiny yellow lightning bolts on it. (A decision which had taken him an embarrassingly long time to make. Simply picking the next nerdy book t-shirt to wear had been surprisingly efficient.)

He spent the entire bus journey jiggling one knee up and down. Caitlin had offered to accompany him, but that would've meant her driving all the way to Cisco's dorm, just to get the bus back the way she'd came. Which was ridiculous. Cisco's nerves weren't worth the effort. Cisco's nerves shouldn't even be a problem - he was just a normal guy, catching his normal bus to his college on a normal day.

The bus braked for his stop, and Cisco was certain he was about to pass out. He smoothed one hand down his satchel strap, trying to hide the tremble in his fingers, and dismounted the bus.

_Barry's Books_ looked the same as ever. The main door was flung open, and the little blackboard sign was sitting patiently on the sidewalk. Cisco focused his eyes on it - and frowned.

It looked... different, today. He'd become accustomed to the way Barry wrote out the quote and the attribution, and so the change in format was instantly obvious to Cisco. He was still too far away to read it, and struggled against the flow of commuters, just as he had so many days previously. Once he reached the sign, he froze, reading and rereading the sign, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, or dreaming.

> **FOR CISCO:  
>  **_"As you wish."_  
>  **\- The Princess Bride, William Goldman.**

That was. _Holy shit_. That quote. That quote was Westley's way of saying "I love you" to Buttercup. He _literally_ told her that was his true meaning. For _Barry_ to write that precise quote...

Cisco's mouth was dry as he finally ripped his gaze away from the blackboard. He spotted Barry straight away - tall, gangly Barry, with his tufts of hair and his sparkling eyes - and Cisco didn't even want to conceal the smile spreading over his face. For once, he didn't think, didn't calculate the risks involved, or try to predict the results.

He just acted.

His feet were leading him towards the bookshop entrance, and a tinkling bell announced his first step inside. Barry was somehow standing directly in front of him, with that adorable flush painting his skin.

"Coffee?" Cisco managed, after what seemed like a lifetime.

"God, yes!" Barry said in a rush.

They grinned at each other. Their story was only just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case I didn't explain it clearly enough, and in case you haven't read/seen The Princess Bride, the "As you wish" quote is all that Westley ever says to Buttercup in response to her requests, and then he finally admits that he was really saying "I love you". You can probably find the movie clip on Youtube! :)
> 
> You can find me losing my mind over Barry and Cisco, and various other fandoms, on my [tumblr](https://brionyjae.tumblr.com)! xx


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